When will welfare bureaucracy learn to listen to the Grandmas??

This is a news report that has deeply shocked South Australians. She was a gorgeous four year old, living in absolute squalor, neglected by her drug addicted mother, often locked in her room to scream her heart out, and forced to repeatedly ride a motor-cycle she could not control until she crashed, for the amusement of others.

The most outrageous aspect of her death three years ago from head injuries is that it was entirely preventable, if only the government agency responsible for her welfare, Families SA, had taken notice of requests for intervention on more than 20 occasions by her concerned grandmother.

Unfortunately such incidents of family wishes being ignored are all too common. Not just by family welfare departments, but often also by those responsible for the difficult management of mental illness.

This story is presented in these pages in the hope that the officious, we know best, culture of bureaucracy will become more consultative.